On the night of April 4-5, the big PFL 1 tournament will be held in San Antonio (USA). Valentin Moldavsky will perform at the main event. He will face Croatian Ante Delia. And old rivals Mirko Cro Cop Filipovich and Fedor Emelianenko will take second place and face each other in the corners.
The Last Emperor continues to lead the boys on his team to championship titles. Now, as a coach. Fedor was a great fighter. And now Emelianenko is trying to reach the same heights as a mentor.
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Fedor’s most experienced pupil is Viktor Nemkov. The 37-year-old fighter has a record of 33-8. It’s worth noting that I didn’t really shine in MMA. But in the last fight, Victor won the belt. He happened in the “Our Business 82” tournament. There Nemkov faced the Kazakh professional league champion Naiza FC and his compatriot Khusein Adamov. In the final fifth round, Fedor’s student pinned his opponent against the net and knocked him out. One gets the feeling that before the end of his career, Victor could well make some noise in Russian pop promotions.
Everyone considers Anatoly Tokov one of Fedor’s most talented pupils. He has stats of 31-3, which looks very powerful and convincing. And his successes seem really impressive. Anatoly himself has repeatedly admitted that the Last Emperor plays a very important role in his development. This was the case during his career, when Emelianenko was often the main sparring partner. And then Fedor became his mentor and is now actively preparing Tokov for the upcoming confrontations.
Anatoly himself said that the Last Emperor is a very demanding and strict coach. But this helps his players to achieve high results: “In fact, there are many little things, both in fighting and in striking, on which we must constantly work and improve our technique. What, according to Fedor, needs to be improved? A lot. But I’m trying. If you do everything right, Fedor praises you. If he sees that you are doing something wrong, he will come over and tell you. And if everything is right he will tell you: “Everything is right, remember, do it like this.”
ANATOLI TOKOV
Photo: Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Vadim Nemkov is the most famous and titled fighter under Emelianenko’s wing. Fedor is constantly at his side during fights, providing competent advice that leads his protégé to championship titles. This was the case at Bellator, where Nemkov simply cleaned up the division from him. And now the Russian has moved to the PFL, where he will try to get to the showdown with Francis Ngannou. In the first fight in the new league, Vadim faced Brazilian Bruno Cappelozza (14-6). And the Russian achieved a beautiful finish and ended the fight with a choke.
This PFL broadcast season available at Okko
Oleg Popov will also compete in the upcoming PFL 1 tournament. He has stats of 16-1. But it is worth noting that it is too early to draw conclusions about the real influence of Fedor on the fighter’s performance. This is because he was under the Last Emperor’s wing only before the previous fight. And yet, Oleg has already fought a fight with the support of Emelianenko’s team. At the Bellator 291 tournament, he defeated Gokhan Sarikam by unanimous decision. But the upcoming fight with Steve Mowry will be much more revealing. It will show the success of the tandem formed by Oleg and Fedor.
Valentin Moldavsky is one of Emelianenko’s most beloved students. He has a decent record (13-3-1 NC). True, recently the Russian’s career abroad has frankly stalled. It is curious that this period coincided with problems and the end of Fedor’s own career path. But as soon as Emelianenko focused on training, Moldavsky’s business went uphill. He already managed to defeat Steve Mowry, breaking an unsuccessful series of fights. And now the confrontation will be of a fundamental nature, since Fedor will face Mirko Cro Cop on the training bridge.
VALENTINE MOLDAVSKY
Photo: RIA Novosti
Nikita Mikhailov (9-3) and Vladimir Tokov (9-2) are promising talents whom Fedor is just beginning to groom for major achievements. And, interestingly, his problems and defeats also fell precisely at the moment when Emelianenko was in limbo. Mikhailov just has to correct the last mistakes of him. But Tokov managed to win Bellator twice in a row in 2023. These guys are rightly called the future of Fedor’s team.
Of course, Fedor did not spend enough time as a coach for his boys to draw conclusions about his greatness in this direction. But there are already first successes. Emelianenko is still in excellent shape: he personally accompanies his players in sparring. For example, before Nemkov’s last fight, a preparation video was leaked online. In it, Fedor undergoes joint training with Vadim. Emelianenko also distinguishes himself with a competent indirect from the corner. The last emperor without unnecessary nerves and with great care guides his pupils throughout the duel.
It seems that Fedor’s approach to training has a positive effect on his players. And Emelianenko himself has a great opportunity to form a whole galaxy of champions.
